


United We Stand, Divided We Fall

by Audrey_Lynne



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Cracked Gems, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Gem Fusions, Gem moms, Healing Powers, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids Are Stronger, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Major Character Injury, No one dies forever, Regeneration, Steven's Powers, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Audrey_Lynne/pseuds/Audrey_Lynne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sapphire sings.  Ruby screams.  It's something of a joke, given their personalities.  Until it's Sapphire screaming, inconsolable, as her world is in shards around her.  Literally.</p><p>Featuring Steven's healing powers, Pearl's angst, and Amethyst's stellar lack of refinement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	United We Stand, Divided We Fall

**Author's Note:**

> So I kinda binged on Steven Universe and now these tiny gay gems have taken over my life. I didn't tag this with character death, as there's nothing permanent, but if extreme peril to the beloveds bothers you, this is one you may want to skip. :)
> 
> ETA: This was written and posted before Keystone Motel, hence some of it now falls out of sync with canon. But I decided to leave it as it was, because I'm proud of this little tale. I did edit a couple of lines to reflect that Sapphire only has one eye, since it was an easy change to make. :)

* * *

 

 

It was well-known to the other Gems, to the point of being a joke, even, that Sapphire sings and Ruby screams. While long-term fusion was distasteful to many Gems – most of them, really – in Garnet's case, it was the best possible option. Not only did it allow the two lovers the closest bond possible, but it was a perfect balancing of strengths and weaknesses. Apart, Ruby and Sapphire each felt they had more weaknesses than their strengths made up for. Together, they were unstoppable.

 

Humans had a concept of “soul mates,” that they might one day find the one person who complemented them in every way. Without whom they would be less complete. This was a baffling idea to most Gems at first. Independence was so central to the very core of Gem society that it was hard to imagine, that one might depend on another so much. Some never grasped it. Most didn't care to. Rose Quartz had found it enchanting, if mildly unrealistic, until she met Greg Universe. Pearl hadn't remotely let herself acknowledge that she might believe in such a thing until Rose was gone and she had time to realize what she'd lost. Ruby and Sapphire had understood it instantly. It was nice to have a word for how they felt.

 

Garnet was the perfect blend of Ruby and Sapphire, and yet another Gem entirely. She had the best of both, occasionally the worst, and a personality and skill-set all her own. She was still capable of fusing with others in battle, if needed, but she had learned to be very careful who she chose to attempt it with. Calmer Gems were best. Sugilite was a roller-coaster of fun, freedom, and mayhem, but she could only be attempted in the most dire circumstances. “Unstable” was the word Pearl liked to use. Probably because it was shorter than “Ruby and Amethyst together are like an explosion in a contained space.” Sapphire's influence could only do so much. Eventually, she tended to shrug her metaphorical shoulders and stop fighting, let them do their thing. Sapphire was more passive by nature, and in the end, as long as she had Ruby in some form, she didn't care. (Alexandrite worked a little better, because there was more balance. Until Pearl and Amethyst started fighting, at least.)

 

In temporary fusions, discord between the involved parties can be enough to break the bond, to separate the whole into its parts once more. When fusions became long-term, a lifestyle, they were much harder to break. The fused Gems could always split voluntarily, but it usually took serious injury or a Gem destabilizer. Garnet had separated into Ruby and Sapphire again on several occasions, when she needed to be two places at once, but after so long together, they tended to reserve it as an option of last resort anymore – ironically, exactly the same policy most Gems applied to fusing in the first place.

 

Human children fascinated Garnet, even before Steven had come into their lives. They were fusions of another sort – only their parents could exist separately, watch these tiny people they had created in a mutual bond grow. She often felt sorry for human lovers, though, that they couldn't know what she did. Life together, not just as two soul mates living with each other, but a permanent physical bond. They had their children as manifestations, but she had herself as an experience and she frankly felt she had the better deal. Though she did understand why Rose Quartz had chosen to give everything to have a child with Greg. The other Crystal Gems didn't, much as they loved Steven. But, for Rose, it was the only permanent fusion she could have with the one she loved so dearly, and she'd been willing to sacrifice herself to make it happen. It broke Garnet's heart, but she understood. Even Pearl, who'd loved Rose the most, didn't get it because she'd never had that love returned. That, too, was heartbreaking on its own level, but Garnet didn't dwell on it long. Not only was it impossible to change the past, at least not without horrible consequences for the new present, but it hurt too much to think of what it must be like. Ruby's and Sapphire's greatest fear was shared, that one of them might lose the other. It was hard enough to consider after ages of deep, mutual love. To consider what it must've been like to be parted without ever being together, as Pearl had been from Rose Quartz – well, Garnet _didn't_ consider it for that very reason. It wasn't going to happen to her, and selfish as that line of thinking might have been, it was what it was.

 

* * *

 

 

Saphirre sings. Ruby screams.

 

Except, as the warp pad activates and the light fades, it's definitely Sapphire screaming. It's not even one of Ruby's favorite brands of screaming, the battle cry, or the lack of patience leading to total frustration. This is an inconsolable wail, and if Pearl had a human spine proper, the sound would have sent a jolt down it. She had been zoning out on the couch, taking some well-deserved downtime while Garnet was off on some mission or another and both Steven and Amethyst were out of the house. But that scream, it shocked her into full awareness. (It was reminiscent of the scream that had torn from her own throat when Rose died.)

 

Pearl bolted to the warp pad, where Sapphire was kneeling, alone. That by itself was a bad sign, never mind the screaming, the tortured keening that showed no signs of stopping soon. “Sapphire? Honey, what's--” And then she saw it. A small, red shard near the edge of Sapphire's skirt. The shards clutched in her shaking hands as she sobbed and continued to scream.

 

Ruby shards.

 

Pearl felt her own heart shattering. If Ruby was gone, so was Garnet. And it was the loss of two friends instead of just one. But she steeled herself, because as much as this hurt for her, it was hurting Sapphire more. _What would Rose do?_ It was the question Pearl asked herself every minute of every day, to be the best she possibly could. And Rose would have put her own grief aside, no hesitation, to comfort another. As Garnet had held Pearl once after Rose's death, Pearl curled around Sapphire, clutching the tiny Gem's body against her own. “Oh, Sapphire. I'm so sorry.” She was crying too, quietly, and Sapphire struggled and screamed in her arms, but she didn't let go. Pearl didn't say anything else – there was nothing _to_ say. Nothing could make this better.

 

Eventually, Sapphire's fight left her, and she slumped against Pearl, still crying. The ruby pieces – pieces _of_ Ruby – were still clutched tightly in her trembling hands, and Pearl gently eased them away from her, putting them back together. They formed a complete gem, laid out together, and Pearl had expected nothing less. The pieces were shattered, broken, but they were all there, because Sapphire wouldn't have left even a tiny shard behind. Sapphire was still shaking, not just from grief but physical strain, and Pearl frowned and uncurled the tiny hand to examine her gem. As Pearl had feared, there was a small but noticeable stress fracture in the blue stone. Whether it had come from whatever battle had split them and felled Ruby or the sheer force of Sapphire's grief, it didn't matter. It could only worsen. She could regenerate, but she'd probably refuse to, and they'd lose her too. Pearl had nearly lost herself the same way after Rose died, but she'd retreated to her gem to regenerate in time – and her gem hadn't been physically broken, just her heart.

 

“Rose's fountain.” Pearl was the one with the solutions. That was her job, and she did it well. “We'll get you there.” She doubted Ruby could be saved. Usually, a gem broken into actual pieces was beyond repair. At least beyond the abilities of Rose's fountain. (Rose herself might have been able to do something. But even that was doubtful. She hadn't been able to save a lot of their friends in the war, and it had hurt her badly, but it was the awful reality of the situation. There had been too many falling too fast for even Rose's healing and overflowing heart to help.) “We'll get you there, before the crack gets any worse.”

 

“No.” Sapphire's voice was flat. Resigned. “It's better this way.”

 

“Better for who?” Pearl snapped, stepping back, her temper getting the better of her. “For you?” She could relate, but she wasn't about to accept it. “What about us? We can't lose both of you!”

 

“You'll survive.” Sapphire's will was clearly as broken as her heart. “You and Amethyst. You don't always believe it, but you're strong. Stronger than you know.”

 

“What about Steven?” Pearl knew she was playing dirty, but it was a valid point – and the only one she knew had a chance of working. “He's already lost Rose, before he even knew her! You know how he loves Gar--”

 

“Shut up!” Sapphire snapped, cutting Pearl off. Her bangs parted from her eye just slightly, and the fury in it was one Pearl was far more accustomed to seeing from Ruby. “Shut up! You don't get to go there! You don't know what it's like! You hate fusion!”

 

“I don't _hate_ it,” Pearl started to protest weakly, but she was again interrupted.

 

“I don't care! She's gone, she's gone, and _I don't care_!” Sapphire was trembling, the crack in her gem growing slightly more pronounced.

 

It was then that Steven, with his stellar sense of timing, arrived on the scene.

 

“Hey, guys? What are you fighting about – oh! Hey, Sapphire!”

 

Pearl froze, as did Sapphire. This innocent boy, Rose's child. About to have his heart broken, but bounding in, cheerful as ever, with no clue how truly horrible things were.

 

“Steven.” Sapphire's hair was in her face again, her head ducked so that her expression was unreadable to Pearl.

 

“Hey.” Steven was a bit more reserved now – he was excitable and naive, hopelessly optimistic, but he wasn't stupid. He stepped closer, treading gently. “Um, uh...where...where's Ruby?” He'd seen the two apart a time or two since his discovery of Garnet's dual nature, usually when they split for a game of tag or to otherwise indulge him. But they were always together, within sight of each other, and he knew it.

 

“Oh, Steven,” Pearl sighed, moving close to him, not ready for his tears, his reaction to yet another loss at too young an age. Sapphire didn't respond. She just laid down, not looking at Steven, curling around the broken gem they'd so carefully pieced back together.

 

Steven's eyes were already filling with tears, and he nibbled at his bottom lip. “...R-Ruby?” He saw it. There was no way, with his expression paling, he hadn't seen it, and he moved over to clutch Sapphire. “No...no, no, no, no, no!”

 

Pearl hugged Steven from behind, trying to soothe him as he sobbed piteously, a child who was losing yet another mother. Sapphire cried as well, and Pearl just hoped Amethyst, wherever she was, would stay out awhile longer. Her grief would be dramatic too, and not just because everything Amethyst did was dramatic. Pearl already had her hands full, and she didn't trust Amethyst not to run off and do something emotional and ill-advised while Pearl's back was turned. Pearl couldn't handle losing anyone else right now. This was awful enough and the full impact of it hadn't even sunk in yet.

 

With her eyes closed as she held Steven as he held Sapphire, Pearl didn't notice the pink glow at first, not until Steven jerked away suddenly, screaming – a scream not unlike Sapphire's, minutes ago. “Why do I have to lose _all these people I love_?” A perfectly natural question, and one Pearl didn't have an answer to. His gem was glowing, pulsating wildly, and Pearl had to duck suddenly as his shield emerged, flying about aimlessly before lodging itself into a wall. The glow grew stronger, building, and Pearl was terrified – for him, for all of them. Rose's power was immense, and Steven's emotions tapped into it like no amount of training could. The rage and grief of a child, it was impossible to tell what that might unleash. Could his human half even handle it? She couldn't process even the thought of losing him too, on top of all of this.

 

Steven flung himself back at Sapphire, clinging to her desperately, as the glow from his gem intensified, bathing the room in the brightest pink light Pearl had seen since the night he was born. A wave of energy knocked her off her feet as she tried to get to him and the pink was suddenly replaced with blackness.

 

* * *

 

 

When Pearl regained awareness, the house was an absolute mess. She didn't know what it said about her that, of all things, that was what she first noticed, but it was. It looked like an earthquake had hit.

 

Steven was the second thing she noticed, and she ran to him. He was alive, but not awake, lying face-down on the floor. His gem was inactive again, in its default state, and she scooped him up, cradling him in her arms. Sapphire was on the floor as well, but she was moving – groaning, slowly stirring. When she finally sat up, she gasped aloud.

 

There was Ruby's gem, where Sapphire had fallen upon it, in one piece again. It was cracked, fissures rippling the surface, but it was whole. Sapphire picked it up, clutching it to her chest desperately, examining her hand, her gem. Pearl leaned over to do the same – Sapphire's gem was intact once more.

 

“Oh, Steven.” Pearl clutched him tighter to her chest, crying into his hair. “Your healing powers aren't gone. They're stronger than ever.” Maybe it was about him finding his confidence all along, or perhaps it had been the sheer desperate love and grief of a child that had unleashed Rose's power. “Only your mother had the power to do that before you. I don't even know if she could have.” They might have been going about this wrong from the start, she considered with awe. They'd assumed, being half-Gem, Steven's powers would naturally be weaker. But had Rose known something about humans they didn't? Hybrid Gems were generally stronger than their individual parts. As a hybrid – a fusion of sorts, Pearl realized – was he not only the best of both worlds, but with more potential than either had alone?

 

Sapphire drew in closer as well, still holding Ruby's cracked gem, and kissed Steven's forehead. “Sweet boy,” she murmured, as she used to when he was a baby. “Is he all right?”

 

“He's probably exhausted.” Pearl shifted him after pressing a kiss of her own to his forehead, intending to carry the boy to his bed. “It used to tire Rose if she had to do major healing, and he's so much smaller. And human.” Just in case, though, she pulled up his shirt to check on the gem, and she gasped. The terror returned. “Oh, no, Steven!” The rose quartz gem was cracked, deeply, nearly as bad as Amethyst's had been before they reactivated Rose's fountain. The power surge had either been too much, or somehow it had absorbed the damage to spare his human body. “This is bad. This is very bad. Rose's fountain. We...we have to try.” Would that even work? Rose had never needed to use the fountain to heal herself. Ruby's gem needed the healing, too – it was saved, but the cracks could only worsen; Ruby couldn't regenerate from a gem so damaged.

 

Sapphire nodded, putting a hand on Pearl's arm, as if to steady her. “I'd say wait for Amethyst, but there's no time.”

 

“We should get her one of those cellular phone things,” Pearl murmured as she rose, cradling Steven in her arms, tears streaming down her face. Worrying about silly, irrelevant logistics was calming somehow.

 

Sapphire stood beside her, nodding idly at the comment, Ruby's gem held against her heart. “Let's go.”

 

* * *

 

 

Fortunately, Pearl had been doing regular maintenance on Rose's sanctuary, so it wasn't in nearly as wild a condition as it had been when they'd frantically dragged Amethyst there some time ago. In fact, it was beautiful, as Pearl always left it. The flowers were blooming, the fountain was running, Amethyst was sunbathing...

 

Amethyst...was...sunbathing.

 

Under other circumstances, Pearl would have demanded answers, probably freaked out, but she was freaking out enough over far more important matters.

 

Amethyst popped up, propping her sunglasses onto the top of her head. “Hey, what's up, guys? Beautiful...day?” As usual, it took her a moment to grasp the gravity of the situation, but she did eventually get there. “What's going on?”

 

“No time to explain.” Pearl hurried toward the fountain, holding the precious burden in her arms close. Sapphire, despite her shorter legs, raced ahead, practically leaping into the fountain to submerge the cracked ruby gem. Pearl climbed in behind her, gently easing Steven down. He made a small, sleepy noise, and she chose to take it as a positive sign. The water was warm – of course it was. Everything in Rose's garden was perfect.

 

Pearl was afraid to look, at first, to see how things were going, if this would even work. She couldn't handle any more heartbreak today. Small cracks healed nearly instantly, bathed in Rose's tears, but bigger fissures could take longer.

 

Amethyst had made it over to them by now, her eyes wide and frightened. “What happened to them?”

 

Sapphire shook her head sadly, though she didn't seem nearly as desolate. She ran her fingers lightly over Ruby's gem, turning it over in the water to examine it. “We were just retrieving the artifact. It was supposed to be simple, quick.”

 

“ _Annnnnd_?” Amethyst prompted when Sapphire went quiet. Pearl was listening closely, too, though she was inclined to be a bit more tactful.

 

“Topaz left a trap. We never saw it coming.” Sapphire sighed, a tear slipping down her cheek. “ _I_ never saw it coming.”

 

“It's not your fault,” Pearl said quietly. “You've always had more trouble discerning your own future than someone else's.”

 

“No!” Sapphire snapped. “I didn't bother to look. I was...distracted. That grove, it holds so many memories...good memories...or, it did.”

 

Pearl nodded, gathering the courage to check on Steven's gem. Her heart soared as she saw the deep fissure from before was barely noticeable now, little more than a scratch on the surface. He was beginning to stir a little, and she smiled, kissing his cheek. Amethyst splashed through the water to float beside her, ruffling Steven's hair. “I understand. But...”

 

“But nothing.” Sapphire shook her head again. “We shouldn't have been separated by the hit. We've had worse. But I think there was a destabilizer in the trap. Not as strong as Jasper's. But enough. And then...” She made a low noise of frustration. “Ruby gets so single-minded when we're apart, in battles. That's why we never do it anymore, along with all the other, better reasons to be together. She doesn't care about herself, just protecting me, and I _always said_ it was going to get her killed...” She broke off again, sobbing.

 

Amethyst swam the short distance to meet Sapphire, hugging her. “Hey, look. Rose is fixing her up. She's gonna be fine. A little regeneration, maybe – good as new. Garnet's back in business before you know it. Badder. Better. Maybe not much bigger. We work with what we've got, eh? And Steven's pinking up already. _Rose_ pink, am I right?” She giggled, obviously amusing herself, and the edge of Sapphire's mouth turned up a little.

 

“She is looking better,” Sapphire admitted, smiling at her partner's gem.

 

Steven was, as well, and he squirmed in Pearl's arms. She held him tighter, smiling at him as he blinked. His eyes opened, unfocused at first, but cleared quickly, and he smiled. “Mom?” he asked, his voice syrupy.

 

Pearl's immediate thought was that he must've been looking at the fountain itself, the shrine to Rose. But, for a moment, it looked like his eyes were on _her_ face, and she wondered. Ultimately, it didn't matter. She knew their bond was strong, that she could be considered a surrogate mother to Rose's boy. And that it had been a long, long time since he was _just_ “Rose's boy” to her. He was Steven and she had come to love him for who he was, not who his mother had been. It had been a long and often painful process, but Pearl was in a much better place for it. “Hey, Steven. Welcome back. You did it.”

 

He beamed at the praise, but frowned. “Did what?”

 

Pearl frowned as well. How much did he remember?

 

Sapphire waded over, stroking Steven's cheek lovingly. “You saved Ruby.” The red gem, now whole, gleamed brilliantly in the light shining down over the garden. “You healed her.”

 

“I...healed her?” Steven's eyes widened, shining. “I thought I couldn't anymore!”

 

“We were wrong.” Pearl laughed. Being wrong had never felt so good. “The last failures you had – those were mostly inanimate objects. Organic, but with no life force. Maybe your power only works on living things! Or--”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Amethyst made a rude noise, holding up her hands. “Kid just woke up. Let's go all academic on him _later_ , okay?” She grinned, reaching a hand to Steven. “You did good, buddy. High-five?”

 

Steven returned the grin, reaching out to let Amethyst slap his palm. Sapphire cuddled against him, turning to look up at the fountain itself, the image of Rose. Pearl couldn't imagine what she must've been thinking. But she smiled after a long moment, pressing the ruby gem against her own, curling her fingers protectively. “Come on. Let's go home.”

 

* * *

 

 

Collectively, it was agreed by the Gems that Greg was _absolutely not_ to know the details of Steven's latest adventure. Realistically, that lasted about an hour into his next visit, when Sapphire wandered through the room and Greg asked who she was.

 

Steven lit up, jumping off the couch to make the introduction. “Oh, that's Sapphire. I told you Garnet was a fusion, right? She's half of it!”

 

“Oh, that's very interesting.” As with most Gem things, Greg looked equal parts freaked out and intrigued, and Pearl couldn't help but smile from the kitchen. He still wasn't exactly her favorite person, though their relationship had improved, and she didn't mind seeing him a little unnerved occasionally. It was good to keep him on his toes. “Hello, Sapphire. I'm Greg. Steven's dad.”

 

Sapphire smiled. “I know. It's nice to meet you.” She curtsied slightly and was out again.

 

“So, if there's two parts, who's the other one?” Greg asked.

 

“That's Ruby!” Steven explained. “She's regenerating right now, though. She got hurt the last mission she went on. But she's gonna be okay!” He grinned proudly. “I healed her.”

 

“You?” Greg high-fived Steven. “Great job! See? I knew you still had it!”

 

Steven blushed. “Well, I didn't do it all. Mom helped some.”

 

Amethyst cleared her throat loudly, and Pearl hurried into the living room. “Oh, Steven, you did most of it. Definitely the majority!”

 

Greg's eyes narrowed, that way they did when he _knew_ they were keeping something from him. “What are you not telling me? Steven?”

 

“Oh, it was great!” Steven was chipper as ever. “They took us to Mom's fountain to finish the rest, the one with her healing tears.”

 

“Us?” Greg echoed.

 

“Oh, you know...children.” Pearl waved a hand dismissively. “You were one once, right? Little boys. They get bumps. Bruises. Cuts. Scrapes.”

 

“Cracks in their gems.” Amethyst shrugged. “Like she said, it happens.”

 

“Amethyst!” Pearl hissed, as Greg paled. “Like I said. It...happens.”

 

Greg tugged at Steven's shirt, eyeing him suspiciously. “Well, your gem _looks_ okay.”

 

“Yeah, it is!” Steven jumped up, dancing around as if to prove it. “I'm great!”

 

“Well, just...be careful.” Greg was, clearly, still nervous, and Pearl couldn't even blame him on that one.

 

“Yes.” Pearl nodded, shooting a glare in Amethyst's direction for good measure. “I'm a very big fan of safety.”

 

Steven nodded solemnly. “She is. Well, except for that time--”

 

“Steven!” Pearl interrupted. “Why don't you and your father go out and...do something? Anything? Just...go. Have fun!” She desperately needed some time alone in her room with her swords to decompress.

 

* * *

 

Sapphire's shrieks of joy were clue enough when Ruby's regeneration was complete. Her laughter was soon echoed by Ruby's, and Pearl smiled as Steven dashed into the room to greet them both, returning in Garnet's arms. Of course they'd wasted no time in refusing; Pearl was amazed Sapphire had stayed as calm as she had over the past couple of weeks. (Had it been Ruby, she would have probably been unbearable. Understandably so, but unbearable. Neither of them did well apart, but Ruby was worse.)

 

“Garnet's back!” Steven cheered, as Pearl and Amethyst ran over to hug her. Steven scrambled so he was sitting on her shoulders, peeking around her hair. “I missed you!”

 

Garnet nuzzled him. “Missed you, too.” She hugged her friends, then peered suspiciously around the room. “No creepy holograms this time?”

 

Steven giggled. “No. I learned that lesson last time!”

 

“Holograms?” Pearl asked, confused.

 

“We don't talk about that!” Amethyst called out. “No. Creepy. Holograms. Now, or evermore.” She frowned suddenly. “Wouldn't you have known that?”

 

“Sapphire can be stubborn.” Garnet shrugged, as if that was all the answer necessary – and, really, it was. Pearl didn't doubt Sapphire would try to shield at least some of her memories to spare Ruby. They were so protective of each other. “Anyhow, let's get back to business. What have I missed?”

 

“This!” Steven swung himself around to cling to the front of her, showering her in kisses. She grinned and started to tickle him, and the laughter that filled the house – _that_ was what Pearl had missed.

 

♫♫♫

 

 

 


End file.
